The cannabis plant genus is known to produce over four hundred and eighty different chemical substances, and at least eighty of these chemical substances are classified as cannabinoids. Many cannabinoids have been found to have diverse medicinal uses which include analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antibioitic, anti-anxiety, and anti-oxidant properties. There are now thousands of strains of the cannabis plant that have evolved naturally or have been developed through hybridization. The different strains of cannabis tend to contain different combinations of these cannabinoids in varying amounts.
Cannabinoids found in their natural state typically are in a non-decarboxylated form. Cannabinoids can be converted into a decarboxylated form by a process referred to as decarboxylation. Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that removes the carboxyl group from a compound. In the case of cannabinoids, decarboxylation involves removing the carboxyl group from the cannabinoid compounds. One common technique for performing decarboxylation is by heating cannabis material to 240° F. or higher for ten minutes to a few hours. Decarboxylation also occurs in cannabis material if the material is allowed to be dry cured. These cannabinoids provide different medicinal benefits when they are in their ‘raw’ or non-decarboxylated form, compared to their properties after they are decarboxylated.
Two cannabinoids that show tremendous medicinal potential are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). THC is the decarboxylated cannabinoid that is considered to be psychoactive. However, if the cannabis material is never heated, ‘decarboxylated’, the cannabinoid will remain in its acid form, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCa). THCa is not considered to be psychoactive. THCa also provides many medicinal benefits without causing psychoactive effects for the user. Most notably, THCa has many anti-inflammatory and cancer cell fighting properties while not being psychoactive. The cannabinoid CBD also is present in the acid form, cannabidiolic acid (CBDa), if the raw cannabis material is not decarboxylated. But when decarboxylated, the CBDa is converted to CBD. Both CBDa and CBD have a different set of medicinal properties.
Because decarboxylation occurs when the cannabis material is heated, it is challenging to find methods for consumers to have access to the ‘raw’ non-decarboxylated cannabis material. Most extraction or infusion techniques rely on heat to extract the cannabinoids, or use heat to purge solvents used in the extraction process. As a result, commercial distribution of raw non-decarboxylated cannabis material has been commercially unfeasible.
Another technique is to infuse cannabis into olive oil or other food grade oil. Food grade cannabis infusions can be made from healthy food oils (olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, etc.), that taste great have a long shelf life, and they are easy to dose and consume. Many patients prefer cannabis infusions that are processed using only food ingredients (no petroleum solvents). Currently, many cannabis formulas delivered in a high concentrate oils that are a thick tar consistency that is nearly impossible to dose correctly, and these concentrates have a very unpleasant taste. Food oil infusions are the preferred medium for consumers, but achieving an efficient food oil infusion without the use of heat, which preserves the cannabis in its raw form, is currently not known. It is extremely difficult to efficiently extract cannabinoids in their raw form. It is even more difficult to efficiently extract the raw cannabinoids into olive oil without the use of heat or chemical solvents. Other raw extraction techniques, such as CO2 super critical extraction, create a final product that is a thick tar that is difficult to handle, dose, and has an unpleasant taste, and these techniques often destroy or remove terpenes and other desirable plant compounds.
One known technqiue is to place the cannabis material in food oil, then heat the oil cannabis mixture. The heat causes the cannabinoids to infuse into the hot food oil, however, the heat also undesirably decarboxylates the cannabinoids thereby converting the raw THCa into THC and CBDa into CBD. Another known technique is to soak the cannabis material in an alcohol solution for a few days or weeks and filter the plant material out of the alcohol. This results in a raw cannabis alcohol tincture. This method extracts all of the raw cannabinoids, but the alcohol solution is extremely high in alcohol and has an unpleasant taste too many people. Moreover, many consumers do not want to consume high alcohol tinctures. It is common to then heat the alcohol to evaporate off the alcohol, but this heating undesirably decarboxylates the cannabinoids. A solution that overcomes these challenges is desired.